Tires

[TFucili]

the toyo m-55 is an ugly no hooking up tire that is about the toughest we have found for our work trucks, they are stud ready, we have tried the new bfg km2 and at, also tried the toyo mt and at, the toyo mt chunked out in about a month, the ats were flattened and the bfgs didnt last long at all this is 100 percent off road driving 24 hrs a day.

Wow, that paints a pretty bleak picture of just about every tire I'm considering I hadn't really considered the M-55, but it's interesting that they hold up OK.

 

[Regcabguy]

the toyo m-55 is an ugly no hooking up tire that is about the toughest we have found for our work trucks, they are stud ready, we have tried the new bfg km2 and at, also tried the toyo mt and at, the toyo mt chunked out in about a month, the ats were flattened and the bfgs didnt last long at all this is 100 percent off road driving 24 hrs a day.

What does"no hooking up" mean?

 

[HHhuntitall]

First off, the sidewall differentiation you are seeing in the Toyo Open Country ATs is due to the difference in sidewall design between the 6 ply passenger tire, like on SUVs, and the 10 ply light truck tire. The light truck tire has a more tread wrap than the SUV tire, to protect the sidewall during off-road use. The Toyo's are an excellent tire, and as an independent tire dealer, comprise the majority of my sales. I also sell Remington, Dunlop, Cooper, BFG, Michelin, Summit, Mastercraft, and General. The Toyo's are what's on my wife's kid mobile. I have MT's on her '97 Dodge 2500 4x4. I don't think the MTs are any quieter on the road than most other like-treaded tires, but they do tend to run a long time. I sold several sets to one guy in 285-75R16, and he's gotten 60 and 65k out of each of the last two sets. I also own and operate a number of ranches in Texas, one reason I'm a tire dealer. I run offroad a LOT. More than most. Most tires I replace due to external damage from terrain or debris, such as Mesquite stumps or oak stobs. The TOYO ATs replaced all other sets of tires on my ranch hand's trucks, as tire problems reduced by almost half. That tells me they are tougher than the others. I run some other tires in other applications just to stay up with the market, and when I capitalize on closeouts and specials. The General AT2 and Remington Mud Brutes tend to be good tires, but the Remington's have no longetivity, mileage wise. The one current set of Dick Cepeck's I have in service appear to not be as good the Toyo's. They are having a lot of flats and I have had one tread separation. The tread design is decent, but the carcass appears to be of Goodyear mold(ProComp, Mickey Thompson, Dick Cepeck, Kelly, Ridge Runner: all made under Goodyear roof), and those tires have consistently not held up to the abuse I put them under. Tread separation was common, and often with less than 20k miles on them. Nitto's have held up well, but my test pool has been shallow.



Secondly,

How accurate is your speedometer to begin with? Most trucks I check or have run on the dyno have been either 1. 5 to 3. 5 mph faster than actual speed. Adding 285/75R17s to a truck with the speedometer running 3. 5 mph slow, will make it close to being on. A 285 is 33. 8 inches in Dia, while a 265/70R17 is 31. 6in diam. Roll out is not much further apart, and over the life of the tires will only amount to about 100 miles..... Just something to think about. I'm all for less RPM's and run 35's on just about everthing I can. Just some info for your consideration...



Good luck,

God bless,



Casey

 

[bheiting]

Doesn't hurt to read user reviews on tirerack.com

 

[TFucili]

First off, the sidewall differentiation you are seeing in the Toyo Open Country ATs is due to the difference in sidewall design between the 6 ply passenger tire, like on SUVs, and the 10 ply light truck tire. The light truck tire has a more tread wrap than the SUV tire, to protect the sidewall during off-road use. The Toyo's are an excellent tire, and as an independent tire dealer, comprise the majority of my sales. I also sell Remington, Dunlop, Cooper, BFG, Michelin, Summit, Mastercraft, and General. The Toyo's are what's on my wife's kid mobile. I have MT's on her '97 Dodge 2500 4x4. I don't think the MTs are any quieter on the road than most other like-treaded tires, but they do tend to run a long time. I sold several sets to one guy in 285-75R16, and he's gotten 60 and 65k out of each of the last two sets. I also own and operate a number of ranches in Texas, one reason I'm a tire dealer. I run offroad a LOT. More than most. Most tires I replace due to external damage from terrain or debris, such as Mesquite stumps or oak stobs. The TOYO ATs replaced all other sets of tires on my ranch hand's trucks, as tire problems reduced by almost half. That tells me they are tougher than the others. I run some other tires in other applications just to stay up with the market, and when I capitalize on closeouts and specials. The General AT2 and Remington Mud Brutes tend to be good tires, but the Remington's have no longetivity, mileage wise. The one current set of Dick Cepeck's I have in service appear to not be as good the Toyo's. They are having a lot of flats and I have had one tread separation. The tread design is decent, but the carcass appears to be of Goodyear mold(ProComp, Mickey Thompson, Dick Cepeck, Kelly, Ridge Runner: all made under Goodyear roof), and those tires have consistently not held up to the abuse I put them under. Tread separation was common, and often with less than 20k miles on them. Nitto's have held up well, but my test pool has been shallow.

Secondly,
How accurate is your speedometer to begin with? Most trucks I check or have run on the dyno have been either 1. 5 to 3. 5 mph faster than actual speed. Adding 285/75R17s to a truck with the speedometer running 3. 5 mph slow, will make it close to being on. A 285 is 33. 8 inches in Dia, while a 265/70R17 is 31. 6in diam. Roll out is not much further apart, and over the life of the tires will only amount to about 100 miles..... Just something to think about. I'm all for less RPM's and run 35's on just about everthing I can. Just some info for your consideration...

Good luck,
God bless,

Casey

Casey,
Thanks for the great feedback! I figured the deal with the Toyo ATs had to be size/duty related. They ought to improve their representation on their site though. I am pretty sure I'll go with Toyos. I just need to decide between the AT and MT. I've read and heard a ton of good stuff about the MTs, and everyone raves that they are as quiet as a BFG AT KO. I currently drive a '93 Ford gasser for our Search & Rescue which has BFG Mud Terrains(old style), and I really don't want tires that howl like that on my personal truck. That's my fear with the MTs. BTW, aren't Mickey Ts made by Cooper? I've run Remingtons(8. 75-16. 5, 8. 25-20, 7. 50-16)on company trucks years ago and was told they were Dunlops. We never had a failure, but wore them out like tissue paper. I doubt that being continuously grossly overloaded had anything to do with that:-laf Those old 60s-70s Fords were tough old trucks I must admit

 

[TimothyLong]

The one thing that I've noticed about TDR is that anytime someone asks for an opinion on something, especially tires, filters, or engine oil, you get a lot of feedback. For every person who posts a good luck story another posts a bad luck story about the same product and most of the time it doesn't turn into a "Holy War". For that reason alone you have to love TDR because you get the good and the bad from a lot of people like you are which allows you to make a more informed decision than the average person reading user reviews on some product or vendor website. With that said, I'll contribute my $0. 02 worth to the discussion.

From the tire list you mentioned, I can only speak to the BFG AT's. I ran those tires for a lot of years and I consider them to be a fairly tough tire. The first set I ever owned was on a '92 Dodge Dakota. They had about 44K on them and were close to needing replaced. One dark and stormy autumn evening, I smacked a curb with the front left tire at full acceleration coming off of a red light and the lane narrowed a bit just past the intersection. I was tired and didn't compensate for the lane narrowing/shift. When I got to my destination, a mile or two up the road, I check the tire for a leak. The only thing I saw was a scuff mark where I hit the curb (mind you it was dark and raining). I checked it again when before I left to go home and it was still okay. Some two months and 3K miles later, I went out one Saturday morning to run an errand and noticed a crack in the sidewall of the tire I'd hit the curb with. I put my finger on the crack and was able to pull back a flap of rubber about the size of my palm and look right at the sidewall cords. In all that time, the tire never went flat or lost any noticeable amount of air. At that point, I went and had all 4 replace a few days later (they were all due anyway). From that point on, the BFG AT had my respect. The only downside to the BFG AT's, that most people will tell you, is that they tend to lose some traction as they wear.

Since then, I've switched to the Goodyear Silent Armors. I know that they weren't in your list, but I'll offer my opinion on them anyway for your consideration. I was never a big fan of Goodyear Wranglers, whicj is why I ran the BFG's. But the Silent Armors were a major redesign and they had some good reviews both on TDR and other places. So I decided to try a set. I've had them a little over a year and they have about 13K or so on them. For the most part, they handle and perform as well as the BFG AT's. It wasn't until the past few months that I was ale to give them a workout in mud and snow. In my opinion they performed pretty well in both. Equal to the BFG AT's if not a tad better. The only thing that I don't know yet is how well they will wear over time / mileage. If I get out of them at least what I got out of my last set of BFG AT's (about 56K), I'll be happy. I'll be happy. Hopefuly the traction won't drop off too bad due to wear on the Goodyear's. But that remains to be seen. So far, they are wearing well and evenly.

Also, on the speedometer issue, I wouldn't sweat running 285's. I've been running 285's since the truck was new and haven't noticed enough to warrant changing the speedometer, etc.

 

[JWadford]

What does"no hooking up" mean?

they have a mt pattern but they spin easy on muddy or wet roads with a ford 5. 4 pushing them if you catch my drift, i dont like them, but from a dollar point of view they work great for abuse, my all time favorite tire was the bfg mt before the km2, i got better mileage than the bfg ats, i just couldnt wear them out, the toyo mt was a good tire but they were completely worn out in a year, the humho mtkl71 has been a great mud tire, didnt hook up as good as the toyo or bfg, but cost alot less and wears alot better than the toyo and looks good too, but the kumho is a directional and that i didnt like, keep in mind, i smoke tires on a regular basis, wheel through stuff im not supposed to and dont rotate them like i should, if you drive responsibly, any tire should last awhile.

 

[TFucili]

Further Question

I had a customer roll up in an '06 Mega Cab that he just replaced his '04. 5 with. He had 295/70-17 Nitto Terra Grapplers on it and with the wheels at full lock there was very little clearance at the rear of the fender well. He has aftermarket wheels, so I don't know if the offset is different than stockers, but I got to wondering about larger tires being an issue. His truck has a 2" leveling kit, and mine does not. Can 285 or 295/70-17s clear on a stock truck with stock alloy wheels without rubbing?

 

[seafish]

I had a customer roll up in an '06 Mega Cab that he just replaced his '04. 5 with. He had 295/70-17 Nitto Terra Grapplers on it and with the wheels at full lock there was very little clearance at the rear of the fender well. He has aftermarket wheels, so I don't know if the offset is different than stockers, but I got to wondering about larger tires being an issue. His truck has a 2" leveling kit, and mine does not. Can 285 or 295/70-17s clear on a stock truck with stock alloy wheels without rubbing?

My LT285/75/17 Toyo OC/AT clear on the stock rims with no lift, no problem.

I am pretty sure that others here have indicated that even 295/75/17 on stock rims also clear, but barely.

Someone else better chime in on the 295/75/17 to be sure.

 

[Bochuck]

My LT285/75/17 Toyo OC/AT clear on the stock rims with no lift, no problem.



I am pretty sure that others here have indicated that even 295/75/17 on stock rims also clear, but barely.



Someone else better chime in on the 295/75/17 to be sure.

Hey Seafish!

I have the Bridgestone Dueller AT Revo II's 315/70R17E and they clear with the Kore HP series which raises the truck about three inches. Sadly, I didn't try the tires before I put the Kore kit on. I've numerous others indicate that aftermarket rims with different offsets than stock will definitely cause interference.

Bob

 

[Zak Smith]

I have a 2010, but I found that with the stock 265/70-17's (Michelins) the speedometer read faster than I was actually going by a few mph. With 285/70-17's, the speed reads about 1-2 mph slower than I'm actually going at 80 mph (check vs. GPS). I've had great results with the Bridgestone Revos on my SUV, so I got the REVO 2's in 285/70-17E for my truck and they're working great so far.

 

[TFucili]

Thanks for all the info guys. I pulled the trigger, and ordered Toyo AT LT285/70-17s this morning. I'll see if the Snap-On scanner can reset the pinion factor, tire count, or whatever they phrase it as, and maybe post a pic.



Tom

 

[JWadford]

I have a 2010, but I found that with the stock 265/70-17's (Michelins) the speedometer read faster than I was actually going by a few mph. With 285/70-17's, the speed reads about 1-2 mph slower than I'm actually going at 80 mph (check vs. GPS). I've had great results with the Bridgestone Revos on my SUV, so I got the REVO 2's in 285/70-17E for my truck and they're working great so far.

that is so your warranty will be up faster j/k:-laf

 

[seafish]

Thanks for all the info guys. I pulled the trigger, and ordered Toyo AT LT285/70-17s this morning. I'll see if the Snap-On scanner can reset the pinion factor, tire count, or whatever they phrase it as, and maybe post a pic.



Tom

You won't be anything but happy with those tires!!

 

[TFucili]

Perpetual Backorder?!

Well, I have been waiting for these tires for quite some time. I am not upset about it, as I have not been putting many miles on lately, but it is pretty bizarre. I have called and emailed Toyo to confirm what my local tire guy is telling me, and even today Toyo responded,"Thank you and currently this product is on back order. As tires are
arriving back orders are being filled so we would be unable to provide
an ETA for you directly.
We do apologize for this delay and do appreciate your interest in Toyo
Tires!!!
Thank you! " I'll wait a while more, and then I'll either go with the LT285/75-17, or go with BFG AT KOs. The 285/75s concern me, as my truck is an auto with 3:73 gears. I've bought countless tires for everything from forklifts to medium duty trucks, and I've never run into such a situation.

 

[Superglide]

I also had to wait for my 285/75-17's. Worth the wait. I have no problems running those with my auto/3. 73's.

 

[DNewrones]

I have 285/70/17E Nitto Terra Grapplers on my 2004. 5 2500 LWB 2WD and hate them they look really good but thats about it. Right off the lot I could feel the sidewall flex and only have about 20K on them and need new tires already. I am looking for a beter tire but they all say they are the best...

 

[TFucili]

Belated Follow Up

It has taken a long time to report back on this. I finally got tired of waiting for the Toyo AT's and went with the MT's in 285/75-17 LRE. Overall, for my daily routine I am pretty pleased. I waited until I got a few miles on them to report my opinion. Noise: They are a little noisier than I had hoped, but not as loud as I feared they would be(Not a complaint, mind you). Mileage: I would guess that they have cost me on average 1-2 MPG around town. They are very heavy and you can feel it on the brakes, especially. My only real complaint is the amount of squirm/sway they have brought on. Where the truck would track and turn pretty "accurately" with the OEM BFG's, you now have to sort of wind it into a turn, and it wallows around and feels very loose. It can be a handful with a trailer now. Even at 80 PSI, the big open tread and taller sidewall make them awfully squirmy. I knew there would be some, but I am very surprised how they have negatively affected handling. Live and learn. I'll probably go with AT's next time.